Question: $ B = \left[\begin{array}{rr}5 & 0 \\ -2 & 3\end{array}\right]$ $ E = \left[\begin{array}{rrr}-2 & -1 & -2 \\ 4 & 4 & 1\end{array}\right]$ What is $ B E$ ?
Explanation: Because $ B$ has dimensions $(2\times2)$ and $ E$ has dimensions $(2\times3)$ , the answer matrix will have dimensions $(2\times3)$ $ B E = \left[\begin{array}{rr}{5} & {0} \\ {-2} & {3}\end{array}\right] \left[\begin{array}{rrr}{-2} & \color{#DF0030}{-1} & \color{#9D38BD}{-2} \\ {4} & \color{#DF0030}{4} & \color{#9D38BD}{1}\end{array}\right] = \left[\begin{array}{rrr}? & ? & ? \\ ? & ? & ?\end{array}\right] $ To find the element at any row $i$ , column $j$ of the answer matrix, multiply the elements in row $i$ of the first matrix, $ B$ , with the corresponding elements in column $j$ of the second matrix, $ E$ , and add the products together. So, to find the element at row 1, column 1 of the answer matrix, multiply the first element in ${\text{row }1}$ of $ B$ with the first element in ${\text{column }1}$ of $ E$ , then multiply the second element in ${\text{row }1}$ of $ B$ with the second element in ${\text{column }1}$ of $ E$ , and so on. Add the products together. $ \left[\begin{array}{rrr}{5}\cdot{-2}+{0}\cdot{4} & ? & ? \\ ? & ? & ?\end{array}\right] $ Likewise, to find the element at row 2, column 1 of the answer matrix, multiply the elements in ${\text{row }2}$ of $ B$ with the corresponding elements in ${\text{column }1}$ of $ E$ and add the products together. $ \left[\begin{array}{rrr}{5}\cdot{-2}+{0}\cdot{4} & ? & ? \\ {-2}\cdot{-2}+{3}\cdot{4} & ? & ?\end{array}\right] $ Likewise, to find the element at row 1, column 2 of the answer matrix, multiply the elements in ${\text{row }1}$ of $ B$ with the corresponding elements in $\color{#DF0030}{\text{column }2}$ of $ E$ and add the products together. $ \left[\begin{array}{rrr}{5}\cdot{-2}+{0}\cdot{4} & {5}\cdot\color{#DF0030}{-1}+{0}\cdot\color{#DF0030}{4} & ? \\ {-2}\cdot{-2}+{3}\cdot{4} & ? & ?\end{array}\right] $ Fill out the rest: $ \left[\begin{array}{rrr}{5}\cdot{-2}+{0}\cdot{4} & {5}\cdot\color{#DF0030}{-1}+{0}\cdot\color{#DF0030}{4} & {5}\cdot\color{#9D38BD}{-2}+{0}\cdot\color{#9D38BD}{1} \\ {-2}\cdot{-2}+{3}\cdot{4} & {-2}\cdot\color{#DF0030}{-1}+{3}\cdot\color{#DF0030}{4} & {-2}\cdot\color{#9D38BD}{-2}+{3}\cdot\color{#9D38BD}{1}\end{array}\right] $ After simplifying, we end up with: $ \left[\begin{array}{rrr}-10 & -5 & -10 \\ 16 & 14 & 7\end{array}\right] $